You know I love wheat grass. It’s such an easy way to welcome spring, and it grows so quickly that it amazes kids! So I asked clever Miggy to come up with a fun wheat grass project — and her idea is terrific! I think these would make perfect place markers at a summer soiree. Or even party favors. What would you use them for? — Gabrielle

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Hey all! So excited to be sharing a spring-time DIY. Today I’m going to show you how to make a monogram wheatgrass centerpiece using some basic things from around the house. This is super easy, even for you wheatgrass virgins out there. Let’s get started!

What you’ll need:

-Wheat berries (hard red winter wheat worked best for me—found in the bulk foods of my local health food store)
-Potting soil
-Mason jar (or something similar to soak wheat in)
-Pie plate, vintage pan or some other cute kitchenware to use as your “pot”
-Rocks (for drainage)

First you’ll need to soak the wheat berries. Simply put them in a jar and fill with enough water to cover the wheat berries entirely. Soak for 12 hours, then drain and rinse. 1 cup of berries should be plenty. I soaked 2 cups and had a lot of left over wheat berries. A lot.

Next, prepare your planting space. I used kitchenware because I wanted a larger planting area to work with, and because they’re cute and I had them on hand. Fill the bottom with rocks, maybe about an inch.

Then cover with potting soil. You may need to pick out some of the larger sticks. Also make sure you get a nice smooth top all the way to the edges—you don’t want the berries falling down in the cracks!

If your soil is really dry like mine was, you may want to add a little water to help the soil settle and to help keep the wheat berries in place.

Now to trace your initial. I think it would be great to make one for each child using his or her first initial in a smaller pot or even in their Easter basket. For this one I’m using our family’s last initial which happens to be W. Simply, trace your letter in the dirt. Freehand it baby! Trust me, it will look great.

Once you trace out your letter, slowly start to fill in your tracing with the wheat berries. You’ll want them in one nice, even layer. You may need to move individual berries around to get it just right.

Once you have the berries in place, water lightly or mist with spray bottle. You’ll want to keep them lightly covered with newspaper for a day or two all the while making sure to keep the berries and soil damp — not wet. If you have too much water it may start to smell bad. Don’t ask me how I know. Once you get sprouts about an inch high move your grass to a sunny spot

You may want to keep growing for a while to get a thicker grass, but it doesn’t take long for the grass to get unruly.

Carefully trim it up with your kitchen scissors and you’re good to go!

You can decorate with chocolate eggs and turn it into a mini Easter Egg hunt for a little dose of whimsy. This might be especially fun for you Urban dwellers who don’t have access to a yard for a real Easter egg hunt. You can experiment with other patterns as well, like these chevron stripes!

Megan

Do you think its too late to try this for Easter? I’ve been trying to think of basket alternatives to use as the base of this years “baskets”. This would be so cute with a solid base of grass and goodies on top. Easter treats and things to play outside with, all tied up with some cellophane and a ribbon!

jeannew

Jill: I love that pie plate so much I bought two in case one got chipped. It’s quite large actually and I use it to display fruit sometimes. It’s from Anthropologie but sadly I don’t see it for sale on their website anymore. :(